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Lego Toys Go to Hollywood
Thu Jul 11, 9:33 PM ET

By Doug Young

LOS ANGELES (Reuters) - Reminiscent of two popular television characters from separate shows in the 1970's featuring a bionic man and woman, Miramax Films and toy maker Lego are joining forces to bring a line of bionic toy characters to feature film.

Walt Disney's Miramax Films will go animated with toy giant Lego to make a movie based on Lego's popular Bionicle line of action toys, the companies said on Thursday.

The project marks the latest in a recent string of family films by Miramax, known more for offbeat films and often critically acclaimed movies like "The Crying Game" and Academy Award winner "Shakespeare in Love."

The project will also be Lego's first motion picture. The private toy company is based in Denmark.

The companies will make the film using computer generated animation, the popular format used in such recent hits as Disney's "Monsters Inc." and DreamWorks' "Shrek."

The two sides chose the format over traditional animation because of its more realistic, three-dimensional qualities, said Miramax spokesman Matthew Hiltzik.

"Overall, we really want to capture the characters," he said. "We want to bring those characters to life. This will be a great technology to do that."

The Bionicle toys upon which the film will be based are targeted at boys ages 8-12 years-old. With a core cast of six heroes who embody environmental elements fire, water, air and others, the action figures fight evil in the world.

The toys come with their own elaborate back story based loosely on Polynesian legend and lore.

Introduced in December 2000, the Bionicle line is a cross between action figures and building sets.

"We have been developing the property with a motion picture adaptation in mind from day one, so it's very rewarding to see our vision realized so quickly," said Conny Kalcher, global vice president of TV and film for Lego Media.

Slated for release in 2004, the film marks the latest in a string of recent projects by Miramax in the family film arena.

While owned by the family-oriented Disney, Miramax took pains to emphasize it would maintain its independence when it was purchased by the entertainment giant in 1993.

Miramax made its entry into family films in 2001 with the hit movie "Spy Kids," which grossed $112 million in the United States.

"Spy Kids 2" comes out next month, and the company is working on a number of other family-oriented films.